Henry VIII

Henry VIII had the most notorious marital relations of any king in history. Tom and Dominic discuss the six women who became his queen. How did they influence the course of the Reformation? And which…

Elizabeth II. Henry V. William the Conqueror. All pretenders, according to our twitter poll to find England’s greatest monarch, which has been running over the last week. Dominic and Tom discuss those…

Who killed the Princes in the Tower? The inspiration behind Shakespeare's Richard III, their murder is one of the greatest mysteries in English history.  In the first of two episodes, we start wit…

Join Tom and Dominic at the National Archives as they explore the history of treason in Britain, going right back to the 1351 treason act. How has treason changed since its inception? Why are traitors…

Edward VI is dead - but who will succeed him on the throne?  In the first of two episodes, Tom and Dominic discuss the succession question that surrounded the reign of Edward VI, the sole male hei…

“There’s a lot of severed heads at this villa!” The great TV sensation of the summer returns on The Rest Is History, as Tom and Dominic are once again joined by Tom’s daughter Katy, to navigate an inc…

The image of Saint George astride his horse, sword and spear in hand, slaying a dragon, is one of the most iconic iconographical spectacles of all time. But what was the historical truth of this deepl…

In Tudor England, during the reign of Elizabeth I, there lived in the very heart of her court a magician, alchemist and polymath, bent upon conversing with the angels of heaven and other supernatural…

How did Elizabeth I’s tumultuous early life in the court of her wife murdering father, Henry VIII, influence the rest of her life? What was the nature of the Tudor world she was born into? Why did Hen…

What happened to the infant Elizabeth I following the bloody execution of her mother Anne Boleyn? How did her father Henry VIII and his next four wives treat her? And, what became of Elizabeth followi…